Nobel-winning chemist born to Palestinian refugees grew up with 9 siblings in one room without running water or electricity; after moving to the US in 1980, he developed technology to harvest water from dry desert air without electricity

Omar M. Yaghi, a distinguished Nobel laureate, grew up in Jordan, where he faced the harsh reality of water scarcity. This early challenge inspired him to invent metal-organic frameworks, known as MOFs. These remarkable structures efficiently extract water vapor from the atmosphere and are also poised to revolutionize carbon capture and gas storage. Yaghi's groundbreaking research beautifully ties his past experiences to transformative scientific innovations.